Bulldozers clear encroachments in New Panvel; hawkers of ten years fear for their loans

Panvel: After encroachments became a heated issue at the Panvel municipal corporation's general body meeting, the civic anti-encroachment department has begun a drive across several wards. On Saturday it cleared encroachments from land reserved for the corporation's daily market in Sector 2, New Panvel, removing traders' goods from the site.

Among those hit are some Marathi hawkers who have done business there for ten years. Some had taken ₹10,000 loans under the PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme, and some later took further loans of up to ₹20,000. They had planned to repay the instalments from their earnings; with their spots gone, they do not know how they will repay.

Some hawkers also said their goods and equipment were damaged in the drive, and that a livelihood built over years had been wiped out in a single operation.

Removing illegal encroachments is part of the corporation's job, but the drive has raised the question of what happens to hawkers who have worked there for years. The vendors feel they are bearing the brunt of a dispute between elected representatives and the civic administration.

Source: Pudhari